1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a clip for a gutter guard and, more particularly, to a clip for removably securing the front lip or portion of a gutter guard to the front depending lip of a gutter.
2. Description of the Related Art
Gutters are open-top channels that collect and direct water away from a building and its foundation. The opening to the gutter channel must remain unobstructed in order for the gutter to function properly. It is common for debris, such as leaves, cones, seeds, pine needles and the like, to collect and block water flow. Obstruction of the gutter channel causes the gutter to overflow and become ineffective. Many people clean their gutters regularly as part of a preventive maintenance program, while others resort to such devices as covers and guards in an attempt to shield the gutter from the accumulation of debris in the channel.
Many of the gutter guards use a single wire layer to cover the open top of the gutter. Other guards combine a wire layer with a mesh layer to keep debris out. The guard helps prevent large debris, such as cones or seeds, from settling in the gutters. However, smaller particles often slip past such layers. The structure of the guards is generally flat so that the layers lay flat above the opening. Sometimes the integrity of the guard cannot be maintained against heavy debris or debris that has collected and settled on the guard over time.
A new and improved gutter guard that is a subject of a pending patent application comprises elongated panels of any suitable length, such as 96 inches, which may be mounted end to end on a gutter and may be formed of any suitable material such as aluminum. Each panel is of a perforated, undulating or sinusoidal wave construction comprising a plurality of longitudinally extending, laterally spaced, elongated raised areas for retarding water flow across the panel with recessed channels therebetween. The perforations in the nature of first holes in the panel are closely spaced in longitudinally aligned relation and also in offset lateral relation, and are disposed in the longitudinally extending recessed channels and in the portions of the longitudinally extending raised areas facing the rear of the panel that is intended to be mounted on a portion of a gutter that is attached or to be attached to the adjacent portion of a building or the like near the roof thereof.
The first holes are of a novel shape, such as a tear drop or the like, having a narrow end portion facing the rear of the panel and expanding outwardly toward the front of the panel. In this manner, rain water flowing from the rear to the front of the panel when it is mounted on a gutter is retarded by the elongated raised areas and spread by the outwardly expanding first holes as it rolls across the panel and thus decreases the water sheet thickness at the first holes to allow the water to drop more readily through the first holes into the gutter.
Near the front of the panel, which is intended to be mounted on the front portion of a gutter, there are provided a plurality of longitudinally extending and aligned second openings that are generally perpendicular to the transversely or laterally extending first holes in the channels and in the raised areas of the panel. The longitudinally extending second openings are intended to catch any rain water that may have flowed across the panel without falling through the first holes.
In accordance with existing practice and the prior art, the front lip of the gutter guard is attached to the adjacent depending front lip of the gutter by screws or rivets which is time consuming and involves the penetration of both the gutter guard and the gutter. The clip of the present invention serves to removably secure the front lip of the gutter guard to the depending front lip of the gutter without the requiring the use of any connector members such as screws or rivets, or the penetration of the guard and/or the gutter.